GBE-N Opens £1.08B Tender for Rolls-Royce SMR Delivery Partner
Great British Energy - Nuclear has opened a £1.08 billion, 14-year procurement to hire a delivery partner for the UK's first small modular reactor fleet at Wylfa and other sites, with bids due 6 August.
Key Takeaways
GBE-N opened a £1.08 billion, 14-year procurement on 7 July 2026 for a delivery partner to build the UK's first Rolls-Royce SMR fleet, with tender enquiries due 20 July and bids due 6 August.
The winning consortium will handle programme management, infrastructure delivery, commercial oversight, engineering support and risk management, starting at the Wylfa site in North Wales.
GBE-N has already committed £2.6 billion to the SMR programme and appointed Amentum and Cavendish Nuclear as joint Owner's Engineer under a separate £300 million framework in June.
Although Rolls-Royce SMR is GBE-N's preferred technology, the tender is technology-agnostic, opening the door to a mixed fleet as GE Vernova's BWRX-300 competes via the SGE consortium's 14-reactor plans.
The framework runs to 2040 with an extension option to 2046, following selection, tender evaluation, competitive dialogue and due diligence stages before a preferred bidder is named.
Kaan Tınmaz
Great British Energy - Nuclear (GBE-N) has formally opened the largest civil nuclear procurement of the UK's small modular reactor era: a £1.08 billion, 14-year contract for a delivery partner to build out the first fleet of Rolls-Royce SMR reactors on state land. The Official Journal notice was issued on 7 July 2026 with tender enquiries due by 20 July and full submissions by 6 August.
What the partner will do
The winning consortium will provide programme management, infrastructure delivery, commercial oversight, engineering support and risk management across GBE-N's fleet, with an initial focus on the Wylfa site in North Wales — the first UK location earmarked for SMRs. GBE-N has already committed £2.6 billion to the programme and previously appointed Amentum and Cavendish Nuclear as joint Owner's Engineer under a separate £300 million framework announced in June.
Rolls-Royce and GE Vernova compete
The tender lands two weeks after private billionaire consortium SGE filed plans for 14 BWRX-300 reactors from GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy, setting up a two-technology UK market. GBE-N has previously identified Rolls-Royce SMR as its preferred technology partner, but the delivery-partner tender is technology-agnostic and could be used to accelerate a mixed fleet.
Why it matters
SMRs are the UK's bet on rebuilding baseload capacity fast — Rolls-Royce's 470-MW pressurised water reactor targets factory-built, road-transportable modules that can be commissioned in half the time of a conventional gigawatt station. The GBE-N tender turns Whitehall's stated ambition into an enforceable delivery schedule, and it goes out to market at the same time the sector is being pulled forward by Rolls-Royce's £12 million Pioneer Works commissioning in Derby and Vattenfall's Ringhals selection in Sweden.
Next steps
The GBE-N procurement will run through an initial selection stage, tender evaluation, competitive dialogue and due diligence before a preferred bidder is named. The 14-year framework runs to 2040 with an extension option to 2046.
Reporting based on coverage from Energy Voice, New Civil Engineer and NCSC/DSIT announcements.
It is a £1.08 billion, 14-year contract to hire a delivery partner providing programme management, infrastructure delivery, commercial oversight, engineering support and risk management for the UK's first small modular reactor fleet, initially focused on the Wylfa site in North Wales.
When are bids due and what happens next?
Tender enquiries are due by 20 July 2026 and full submissions by 6 August. The procurement then runs through initial selection, tender evaluation, competitive dialogue and due diligence before a preferred bidder is named. The framework runs to 2040 with an option to extend to 2046.
Is the tender limited to Rolls-Royce SMR technology?
No. GBE-N has identified Rolls-Royce SMR as its preferred technology partner, but the delivery-partner tender is technology-agnostic and could accelerate a mixed fleet, with GE Vernova Hitachi's BWRX-300 competing in the UK market via the SGE consortium.
Why do SMRs matter to the UK?
SMRs are the UK's bet on rebuilding baseload capacity quickly. Rolls-Royce's 470-MW pressurised water reactor uses factory-built, road-transportable modules that can be commissioned in about half the time of a conventional gigawatt station.
